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Lee Harvey Oswald
|birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = Parkland Memorial Hospital Dallas, Texas, U.S. |death_cause = Murdered by Jack Ruby |resting_place = Rose Hill Cemetery Fort Worth, Texas |resting_place_coordinates = |nationality = American |spouse = Marina Prusakova (m. 1961–1963, his death) |other_names = Alek J. Hidell O. H. Lee |signature = Lee Harvey Oswald Signature.svg }} Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was, according to five government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1963), the Warren Commission (1964), the House Select Committee on Assassinations (1979), and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. A former U.S. Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union between October 1959 and June 1962, Oswald was initially arrested for the murder of police officer J. D. Tippit, on a Dallas street approximately 40 minutes after Kennedy was shot. Suspected in the assassination of Kennedy as well, Oswald denied shooting anybody, claiming he was a patsy. Two days later, while being transferred from police headquarters to the county jail, Oswald was shot and mortally wounded by nightclub owner Jack Ruby in full view of television cameras broadcasting live. In 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone in assassinating Kennedy, firing three shots, a conclusion also reached by prior investigations carried out by the FBI and Dallas Police Department, yet rejected by much of the U.S. public over the years.Gallop: Most Americans Believe Oswald Conspired With Others to Kill JFK In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that Oswald fired the shots which killed Kennedy, but differed from previous investigations in concluding he 'probably' did not act alone. Early life Childhood Lee Harvey Oswald was born in New Orleans on October 18, 1939,Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 23, p. 799, CE 1963, Schedule showing known addresses of Lee Harvey Oswald from the time of his birth. to Marguerite Frances (née Claverie; New Orleans, Louisiana, July 19, 1907 – Fort Worth, Texas, January 17, 1981) and Robert Edward Lee Oswald, Sr. (New Orleans, Louisiana, March 4, 1896 – New Orleans, August 19, 1939). Oswald had two older siblings – brother Robert Edward Lee Oswald, Jr. and half-brother John Edward Pic. His ancestry included English, Irish, French, Dutch, and German (Bavarian). As a child, Oswald was withdrawn and temperamental. In August 1952, while living with half-brother John Pic, at the time a U.S. Coast Guardsman stationed in New York City, Oswald and Marguerite were asked to leave after Oswald allegedly threatened Pic's wife with a knife and struck their mother, Marguerite. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 22, p. 687, CE 1382, Interview with Mrs. John Edward Pic. Charges of truancy, in the Bronx (NYC), led to psychiatric assessment at a juvenile reformatory, the psychiatrist, Dr. Renatus Hartogs, describing Oswald's "vivid fantasy life, turning around the topics of omnipotence and power, through which he tries to compensate for his present shortcomings and frustrations." Finding a "personality pattern disturbance with schizoid features and passive-aggressive tendencies," Dr. Hartogs recommended continued treatment. However, in January 1954, Oswald's mother Marguerite returned with him to New Orleans.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 25, p. 123, CE 2223, Big Brothers of New York, Inc., Case file of Lee Harvey Oswald. At the time, there was a question pending before a New York judge as to whether Oswald should be removed from the care of his mother to finish his schooling,Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of Mrs. Marguerite Oswald. although his behavior appeared to improve during his last months in New York.Carro Exhibit No. 1 Continued at Kennedy Assassination Home Page.Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of John Carro. In New Orleans, in October 1955, Oswald left the 10th grade after one month. He worked as an office clerk or messenger around New Orleans, rather than attend school. Planning for his enlistment, the family returned to Fort Worth in July 1956, and he re-enrolled in 10th grade for the September session at Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, but quit in October to join the Marines (see below); he never received a high school diploma. By the age of 17, he had resided at 22 different locations and attended 12 different schools. The schools were: * 1st grade: Benbrook Common School (Fort Worth, Texas), October 31, 1945 * 1st grade (again): Covington Elementary School (Covington, LA), Sep. 1946–Jan. 1947 * 1st grade (end): Clayton Public School (Ft Worth, TX), Jan.–May 1947 * 2nd grade: Clayton Public School (Ft Worth, TX), Sept. 1947 * 2nd grade (end): Clark Elementary School (Ft Worth, TX), March 1948 * 3rd grade: Arlington Heights Elementary School (Ft Worth, TX), Sept. 1948 * 4th grade: Ridglea West Elementary School (since renamed Luella Merrett, Ft Worth), Sep. 1949 * 5th grade: Ridglea West Elementary School (Ft Worth), Sep. 1950 * 6th grade: Ridglea West Elementary School (Ft Worth), Sep. 1951 * 7th grade: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran School (Bronx, NYC, NY), Aug. 1952 * 7th grade: Public School 117 (Bronx, NYC, NY), Sep. 1952 (attended 17 of 64 days) * 7th grade (end): Public School 44 (Bronx, NYC, NY), March 23, 1953 :: Reformatory: Youth House (NYC, NY), April/May 1953. * 8th grade: Public School 44 (Bronx, NYC, NY), Sep. 14, 1953 * 8th grade (end): Beauregard Junior High School (New Orleans), Jan. 13, 1954 * 9th grade: Beauregard Junior High School (New Orleans), Sep. 1954–June 1955 * 10th grade: Warren Easton High School (New Orleans), Sep.–Oct. 1955 :: (tried to enlist in U.S. Marines using affidavit claiming age 17) :: (worked as clerk/messenger in New Orleans, rather than school) * 10th grade (again): Arlington Heights High School (Ft Worth, TX), Sep.–Oct. 1956. Final withdrawal from high school, 10th grade. Though he had trouble spelling and writing coherently,Warren Commission Report, Chapt. 7, p. 383. he read voraciously and, by age 15, claimed to be a Marxist, writing in his diary, "I was looking for a key to my environment, and then I discovered socialist literature. I had to dig for my books in the back dusty shelves of libraries." At 16 he wrote to the Socialist Party of America for information on their Young People's Socialist League, saying he had been studying socialist principles for "well over fifteen months."Warren Commission Hearings, CE 2240, FBI transcript of letter from Lee Oswald to the Socialist Party of America, October 3, 1956. However, Edward Voebel, "whom the Warren Commission had established was Oswald's closest friend during his teenage years in New Orleans...said that reports that Oswald was already 'studying Communism' were a 'lot of baloney.' " Voebel said that "Oswald commonly read 'paperback trash.'"Oswald, [[David Ferrie] and the Civil Air Patrol], United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, vol. 9, 4, p. 107.Testimony of Edward Voebel, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 8, pp. 10, 12. While a teenager Oswald attended Civil Air Patrol meetings in New Orleans, in 1955. Other cadets recall him attending "three or four" times, or "10 or 12 times" over a one- or two-month period.Oswald, David Ferrie and the Civil Air Patrol, House Select Committee on Assassinations - Appendix to Hearings, Volume 9, 4, pp. 107-115.Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 234. ISBN 1-56924-739-0PBS Frontline "Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald", broadcast on PBS stations, November 1993 (various dates). Marine Corps Oswald enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on October 24, 1956, just after his seventeenth birthday. He idolized his older brother Robert and a photograph, after his arrest by Dallas police, shows Lee wearing his brother's Marines ring.Bob Goodman, Triangle of Fire (Laquerian Publishing Co., 1993). One witness testified to the Warren Commission that Oswald's enlistment may also have been an escape from his overbearing mother.Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7, p. 384, Lee Harvey Oswald: Background and Possible Motives, Return to New Orleans and Joining the Marine Corps. Oswald's primary training was as a radar operator, a position requiring a security clearance. A May 1957 document states that he was "granted final clearance to handle classified matter up to and including CONFIDENTIAL after careful check of local records had disclosed no derogatory data."Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 19, Folsom Exhibit No. 1, p. 665, Administrative Remarks. In the Aircraft Control and Warning Operator Course he finished seventh in a class of thirty. The course "...included instruction in aircraft surveillance and the use of radar."Marines Warren Commission Report, Appendix 13, page 682–683. He was assigned first to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in July 1957,Warren Commission Hearings, Marine Corps service record of Lee Harvey Oswald. then to Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan in September as part of Marine Air Control Squadron 1. Like all Marines, Oswald was trained and tested in shooting, scoring 212 in December 1956 (slightly above the minimum for qualification as a ''sharpshooter'') but in May 1959 scoring only 191 (barely earning the lower designation of ''marksman'').Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin, Oswald's Marine Training Oswald was court-martialed after accidentally shooting himself in the elbow with an unauthorized .22 handgun, then court-martialed again for fighting with a sergeant, named Miguel Rodriguez, who he thought was responsible for his punishment in the shooting matter. He was demoted from private first class to private and briefly imprisoned in the brig. He was later punished for a third incident: while on night-time sentry duty in the Philippines, he inexplicably fired his rifle into the jungle.Posner,Gerald "Case Closed" Random House, New York, 1993 pg. 28 Slightly built, Oswald was nicknamed Ozzie Rabbit after the cartoon character, or sometimes Oswaldskovich because of his pro-Soviet sentiments. In December 1958 he transferred back to El Toro, where his unit's function "...was to serveil sic for aircraft, but basically to train both enlisted men and officers for later assignment overseas." An officer there said that Oswald was a "very competent" crew chief.Testimony of John E. Donovan, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 8, pp. 290, 298. While in the Marines, Oswald made an effort to teach himself rudimentary Russian. Although an unusual accomplishment, in February 1959 he was invited to take a Marine proficiency exam in written and spoken Russian. His effort at the time was rated "poor".Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), pp. 94, 99. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 Adult life and early crimes Defection to the Soviet Union In October 1959, just before turning 20, Oswald traveled to the Soviet Union, the trip planned well in advance. On September 11, 1959, he received a hardship discharge from active service, claiming his mother needed care, and was put on reserve.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 19, Folsom Exhibit No. 1, p. 85, Request for Dependency Discharge. Along with his self-taught Russian, he had saved $1,500 of his Marine Corps salary,Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 22, p. 705, CE 1385, Notes of interview of Lee Harvey Oswald conducted by Aline Mosby in Moscow in November 1959. Oswald: "When I was working in the middle of the night on guard duty, I would think how long it would be and how much money I would have to save. It would be like being out of prison. I saved about $1500." During Oswald's 2 years and 10 months of service in the Marine Corps he received $3,452.20, after all taxes, allotments and other deductions as well as his GED. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 26, p. 709, CE 3099, Certified military pay records for Lee Harvey Oswald for the period October 24, 1956, to September 11, 1959. obtained a passport, and submitted several fictional applications to foreign universities in order to obtain a student visa. Oswald spent two days with his mother in Fort Worth, then embarked by ship from New Orleans on September 20 to Le Havre, France, then immediately proceeded to England. Arriving in Southampton on October 9, he told officials he had $700 and planned to remain in the United Kingdom for one week before proceeding to a school in Switzerland. But on the same day, he flew to Helsinki, where he was issued a Soviet visa on October 14. Oswald left Helsinki by train on the following day, crossed the Soviet border at Vainikkala, and arrived in Moscow on October 16.Lee Harvey Oswald in Russia, The Journey From USA to USSR at Russian Books Almost immediately, Oswald told his Intourist guide of his desire to become a Soviet citizen,Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 16, p. 94, CE 24, Lee Harvey Oswald's "Historic Diary", entry of October 16, 1959. but was told on October 21 that his application had been refused. Oswald then inflicted a minor but bloody wound to his left wrist in his hotel room bathtub, after which the Soviets put him under psychiatric observation at a hospital.Lee Harvey Oswald in Russia, Moscow Part 2 at Russian Books''Lee Harvey Oswald in Russia, Moscow Part 3 at ''Russian Books On October 31, Oswald appeared at the United States embassy in Moscow, declaring a desire to renounce his U.S. citizenship.Lee Harvey Oswald in Russia, Moscow Part 1 at Russian Books''Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 18, p. 108, CE 912, Declaration of Lee Harvey Oswald, dated November 3, 1959, requesting that his U.S. citizenship be revoked. Oswald told the interviewing officer at the U.S. embassy, Richard Snyder, "...that he had been a radar operator in the Marine Corps and that he had voluntarily stated to unnamed Soviet officials that as a Soviet citizen he would make known to them such information concerning the Marine Corps and his specialty as he possessed. He intimated that he might know something of special interest."Foreign Service Dispatch from the American Embassy in Moscow to the Department of State, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 18, p. 98, CE 908 (Such statements led to Oswald's ''hardship/honorable military discharge being changed to undesirable.)Warren Commission Hearings, CE 780, Documents from Lee Harvey Oswald's Marine Corps file. The Associated Press story of the defection of a U.S. Marine to the Soviet Union was reported on the front pages of some newspapers in 1959."Texas Marine Gives Up U.S. For Russia", The Miami News, October 31, 1959, p1 Though Oswald had wanted to attend Moscow University, he was sent to Minsk to work as a lathe operator at the Gorizont (Horizon) Electronics Factory, a facility producing radios, televisions, and military and space electronics. While working there, he interacted with Stanislau Shushkevich, future head of state of Belarus, who worked at the time on this factory. Stanislau Shushkevich was assigned to teach Lee Harvey Oswald Russian. Oswald also received a government subsidized, fully furnished studio apartment in a prestigious building and an additional supplement to his factory pay—all in all, an idyllic existence by Soviet working-class standards,Lee Harvey Oswald in Russia, Minsk Part 3 at Russian Books although he was under constant surveillance.Lee Harvey Oswald in Russia, Minsk Part 2 at Russian Books But Oswald grew bored in Minsk.Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7 He wrote in his diary in January 1961: "I am starting to reconsider my desire about staying. The work is drab, the money I get has nowhere to be spent. No nightclubs or bowling alleys, no places of recreation except the trade union dances. I have had enough."Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 16, p. 102, CE 24, Lee Harvey Oswald's "Historic Diary", entry of January 4–31, 1961. Shortly afterwards, Oswald (who had never formally renounced his U.S. citizenship) wrote to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow requesting return of his American passport, and proposing to return to the U.S. if any charges against him would be dropped.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 18, p. 131, CE 931, Undated letter from Lee Harvey Oswald to the American Embassy in Moscow. In March 1961, Oswald met Marina Nikolayevna Prusakova, a 19-year-old pharmacology student; they married less than six weeks later in April.Though later reports described her uncle, with whom she was living, as a colonel in the KGB, he was actually a lumber industry expert in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) with a bureaucratic rank of Polkovnik. Priscilla Johnson McMillan, Marina and Lee, Harper & Row, 1977, pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0-06-012953-8.United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, Hearings, vol. 2 p. 207, Testimony of Marina Oswald Porter, September 13, 1978. The Oswalds' first child, June, was born on February 15, 1962. On May 24, 1962, Oswald and Marina applied at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for documents enabling her to immigrate to the U.S. and, on June 1, the U.S. Embassy gave Oswald a repatriation loan of $435.71.The Warren Report, Appendix 8, p. 712, Biography of Lee Harvey Oswald Oswald, Marina, and their infant daughter left for the United States, where they received no attention from the press, much to Oswald's disappointment."Young Ex-Marine Asks To Be Russian Citizen", Oakland Tribune, October 31, 1959, p. 1. "Ex-Marine Requests Citizenship", New York Times, November 1, 1959, p. 3. "Texan in Russia: He Wants to Stay", Dallas Morning News, November 1, 1959, sec. 1, p. 9. "Brother Tries to Telephone, Halt Defector", Oakland Tribune November 2, 1959, p. 8. "U.S. Boy Prefers Russia", Syracuse Herald-Journal, December 11, 1959, p. 46. "Third Yank Said Quitting Soviet Union, San Mateo Times, June 8, 1962, p. 8. "Marine Returning", The Lima News, June 9, 1962, p. 1. Dallas The Oswalds soon settled in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where his mother and brother Robert lived, and Oswald began a memoir on Soviet life. Though he eventually gave up the project, his search for literary feedback put him in touch with anti-Communist Russian émigrés in the area. In testimony to the Warren Commission, Alexander Kleinlerer said that the Russian émigrés sympathized with Marina, while merely tolerating Oswald, whom they regarded as rude and arrogant. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 11, p. 123, Affidavit of Alexander Kleinlerer: "Anna Meller, Mrs. Hall, George Bouhe, and the deMohrenschildts, and all that group had pity for Marina and her child. None of us cared for Oswald because of his political philosophy, his criticism of the United States, his apparent lack of interest in anyone but himself, and because of his treatment of Marina." Although the Russian émigrés eventually abandoned Marina when she made no sign of leaving Oswald,Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 11, p. 298, Testimony of Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 2, p. 307, Testimony of Mrs. Katherine Ford. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 9, p. 252, Testimony of George de Mohrenschildt. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 9, p. 238, Testimony of George de Mohrenschildt. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 9, p. 266, Testimony of George de Mohrenschildt. Oswald found an unlikely friend in 51-year-old Russian émigré George de Mohrenschildt, a well-educated petroleum geologist with intelligence connections.George de Mohrenschildt. Staff Report of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, vol. 12, 4, p. 53–54, 1979. (A native of Russia, de Mohrenschildt told the Warren Commission that Oswald had a "...remarkable fluency in Russian.")Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 9, p. 226, Testimony of George S. de Mohrenschildt. Marina, meanwhile, befriended Ruth Paine,Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 2, p. 435, Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine. a Quaker who was trying to learn Russian, and her husband Michael who worked for Bell Helicopter.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 2, p. 385, Testimony of Michael R. Paine. (Ruth Paine said that she first met the Oswalds at a party arranged by de Mohrenschildt.)Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 11, p. 396, Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine. In July 1962, Oswald was hired by Dallas' Leslie Welding Company; he disliked the work and quit after three months. (Warren Commission exhibit CE 1891 states that Mrs. Virginia Hale of Fortune Road, employed in the Fort Worth office of the Texas Employment Commission, sent Oswald out on the job to the Leslie Welding Company.) In October, he was hired by the graphic-arts firm of Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall as a photoprint trainee.The company has been cited as doing classified work for the US government, but this work was limited to typesetting for maps and carried out in a section to which Oswald had no access. (George de Mohrenschildt's wife and daughter said that it was George de Mohrenschildt who secured the job at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall for Oswald.)Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 158. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 Oswald's inefficiency and rudeness at his new job were such that fights threatened to break out,Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of Dennis Hyman Ofstein: 'I would say he didn't get along with people and that several people had words with him at times about the way he barged around the plant, and one of the fellows back in the photosetter department almost got in a fight with him one day, and I believe it was Mr. Graef that stepped in and broke it up before it got started...' and he was seen reading a Russian publication, Krokodil.This magazine was largely a satire of the performance of the Soviet system, not of the West—by this time Oswald had long been disillusioned with the U.S.S.R., as noted. He was fired during the first week of April 1963. He may have used equipment at the firm to forge identification documents.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 19, p. 288, Photograph of the face sides of a Selective Service System Notice of Classification. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 10, p. 201, Testimony of Dennis Hyman Ofstein. Edwin Walker assassination attempt In March 1963, Oswald purchased a 6.5 mm caliber Carcano rifle by mail-order, using the alias A. Hidell,The Assassin, Warren Commission Report, pp. 118–119, as well as a .38 Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver by the same method.Questioned Documents, Warren Commission Report, Appendix 10, p. 567–571. Marina Oswald testified to the Warren Commission that Lee Harvey Oswald confessed to her on the night of April 10, 1963, that he shot at General Edwin Walker with his rifle, and buried the rifle that night. The Warren Commission concluded that on April 10, 1963, Oswald attempted to kill retired U.S. Major General Edwin Walker, an outspoken anti-communist, segregationist, and member of the John Birch Society. In 1961, Walker had been relieved of his command of the 24th Division of the U.S. Army in West Germany for distributing right-wing literature to his troops.Scott, Peter Dale. Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993), pp. 34, 50. ISBN 0-520-20519-7Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), pp. 161–162. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 Walker's later actions in opposition to racial integration at the University of Mississippi led to his arrest on insurrection, seditious conspiracy, and other charges. He was temporarily held in a mental institution on orders from President Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, but a grand jury refused to indict him.Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 162. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 Oswald's wife, Marina told the Warren Commission that Oswald considered Walker the leader of a "fascist organization.""Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 1, p. 16, Testimony of Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald fired at Walker through a window, from less than 100 feet (30 m) away, as Walker sat at a desk in his home; the bullet struck the window-frame and Walker's only injury was bullet fragments to the forearm. Marina testified to the Warren Commission that Oswald told her that he had shot at Walker. (The United States House Select Committee on Assassinations stated that the "evidence strongly suggested" that Oswald carried out the shooting.)Findings of the Select Committee on Assassinations, HSCA Final Report, p. 61. Before the Kennedy assassination, Dallas police had no suspects in the Walker shooting, but Oswald's involvement was suspected within hours of his arrest following the assassination."Officials Recall Sniper Shooting at Walker Home", Dallas Morning News, November 23, 1963, sec. 1, p. 15. (A note Oswald left for Marina on the night of the attempt, telling her what to do if he did not return, was not found until early December 1963.)Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 23, p. 392–393, CE 1785, Secret Service report dated December 5, 1963, on questioning of Marina Oswald about note Oswald wrote before he attempted to kill General Walker.Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 9, p. 393–394."Oswald Notes Reported Left Before Walker Was Shot At", Dallas Morning News, December 31, 1963, sec. 1, p. 6. The Walker bullet was too damaged to run conclusive ballistics studies on it,"FBI Unable to Link Walker Slug, Rifle", Dallas Morning News, December 20, 1963, sec. 1, p. 7. but neutron activation analysis later showed that it was "extremely likely" that it was made by the same manufacturer and for the same rifle make as the two bullets which later struck Kennedy.United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, Testimony of Dr. Vincent P. Guinn: :Mr. WOLF. In your professional opinion, Dr. Guinn, is the fragment removed from General Walker's house a fragment from a WCC (Western Cartridge Company) Mannlicher-Carcano bullet? :Dr. GUINN. I would say that it is extremely likely that it is, because there are very few, very few other ammunitions that would be in this range. I don't know of any that are specifically this close as these numbers indicate, but somewhere near them there are a few others, but essentially this is in the range that is rather characteristic of WCC Mannlicher-Carcano bullet lead. George de Mohrenschildt, friend of the Oswalds when they were in Dallas, told the Warren Commission that he strongly suspected that Oswald took a 'pot shot' at General Walker, because the following weekend, on the night of Easter Sunday, April 14, 1963, George and Jeanne De Mohrenschildt brought an Easter bunny to baby June Oswald, and when Marina was showing Jeanne their new apartment, Oswald's dug-up rifle appeared in a closet. Jeanne exclaimed to George that Lee had a rifle, and George joked to Lee, "Were you the one who took a pot-shot at General Walker?" At this point Lee and Marina both became stunned for an uncomfortable moment of silence, and then George broke the ice by laughing, and they all laughed. George de Mohrenschildt testified that this was the last time he ever saw Oswald, and that he had a strong feeling that Oswald was guilty of shooting at General Walker. New Orleans c. May–September 1963]] Oswald returned to New Orleans on April 24, 1963.The Warren Report, Chapter 7, p. 403, Lee Harvey Oswald – Background and Possible Motives; Personal Relations Marina's friend, Ruth Paine, drove her by car from Dallas to join Oswald in New Orleans the next month in May.The Warren Report, Chapter 6, p. 284, Investigation of Possible Conspiracy; Background of Lee Harvey Oswald On May 10, Oswald was hired by the Reily Coffee Company whose owner (William Reily) was a backer of the Crusade to Free Cuba Committee, an anti-Castro organization.Scott, Peter Dale. Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993), p. 95. ISBN 0-520-20519-7 Oswald worked as a machinery greaser at Reily, but he was fired in July "...because his work was not satisfactory and because he spent too much time loitering in Adrian Alba's garage next door, where he read rifle and hunting magazines."The Warren Report, Chapter 7, pp. 403–404, Lee Harvey Oswald – Background and Possible Motives; Personal RelationsSummers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 219. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 On May 26, Oswald wrote to the New York City headquarters of the pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee, proposing to rent "...a small office at my own expense for the purpose of forming a FPCC branch here in New Orleans."Lee (Vincent T.), Exhibit No. 2, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 20, p. 512. Three days later, the FPCC responded to Oswald's letter advising against opening a New Orleans office "at least not ... at the very beginning."Lee (Vincent T.), Exhibit No. 3, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 20, p. 515. In a follow-up letter, Oswald replied, "Against your advice, I have decided to take an office from the very beginning."Lee (Vincent T.), Exhibit No. 4, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 20, p. 518. As the sole member of the New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, Oswald ordered the following items from a local printer: 500 application forms, 300 membership cards, and 1,000 leaflets with the heading, "Hands Off Cuba."FBI Report of Investigation of Lee Harvey Oswald's Activities for Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 25, pp. 770, 773. According to Lee Oswald's wife Marina, Lee told her to sign the name "A.J. Hidell" as chapter president on his membership card.Political Activies, Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7, p. 407. On August 5 and 6, according to anti-Castro militant Carlos Bringuier, Oswald visited him at a store he owned in New Orleans. Bringuier was the New Orleans delegate for the Student Revolutionary Directorate (DRE), an anti-Castro organization. Bringuier would later tell the Warren Commission that he believed Oswald's visits were an attempt by Oswald to infiltrate his group.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 10, pp. 34–37, Testimony of Carlos Bringuier. On August 9, Oswald turned up in downtown New Orleans handing out pro-Castro leaflets. Bringuier confronted Oswald, claiming he was tipped off about Oswald's leafleting by a friend. A scuffle ensued and Oswald, Bringuier, and two of Bringuier's friends were arrested for disturbing the peace.Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 211. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 Before leaving the police station, Oswald asked to speak with an FBI agent. Agent John Quigley arrived and spent over an hour talking to Oswald.Marrs, Jim. Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy, (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1989), p. 146. ISBN 0-88184-648-1 A week later, on August 16, Oswald again passed out Fair Play for Cuba leaflets with two hired helpers, this time in front of the International Trade Mart. The incident was filmed by WDSU – the local TV station.Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), pp. 211–212. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 The next day, Oswald was interviewed by WDSU radio commentator William Stuckey, who probed Oswald's background.Douglas, James. JFK and the Unspeakable, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 65. ISBN 978-1-4391-9388-4 A few days later, Oswald accepted Stuckey's invitation to take part in a radio debate with Carlos Bringuier and Bringuier's associate Edward Butler, head of the right-wing Information Council of the Americas (INCA).Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 21, p. 633, Stuckey Exhibit 3, Literal transcript of an audio-tape recording of a debate among Lee Harvey Oswald, Carlos Bringuier, and Edward Butler on August 21, 1963, Radio station WDSU, New Orleans. One of Oswald's Fair Play for Cuba leaflets had the address "544 Camp Street" hand-stamped on it, apparently by Oswald himself.544 Camp Street and Related Events, House Select Committee on Assassinations—Appendix to Hearings, vol. 10, 13, p. 123. The address was in the "Newman Building" which, from October 1961 to February 1962, housed the militant anti-Castro group, the Cuban Revolutionary Council.544 Camp Street and Related Events, House Select Committee on Assassinations—Appendix to Hearings, vol. 10, 13, pp. 123–4.Marrs, Jim. Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy, (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1989), p. 235. ISBN 0-88184-648-1 Around the corner but located in the same building, with a different entrance, was the address 531 Lafayette Street—the address of "Guy Banister Associates", a private detective agency run by former FBI agent Guy Banister. Banister's office was involved in anti-Castro and private investigative activities in the New Orleans area. In September 1960, the CIA had considered using Guy Banister Associates for the collection of foreign intelligence, but decided against it.Marrs, Jim. Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy, (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1989), pp. 100, 236. ISBN 0-88184-648-1544 Camp Street and Related Events, House Select Committee on Assassinations—Appendix to Hearings, vol. 10, 13, pp. 126–7. In the late-1970s, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) investigated the possible relationship of Oswald to Banister's office. While the committee was unable to interview Guy Banister (who died in 1964), the committee did interview his brother Ross Banister. Ross "...told the committee that his brother had mentioned seeing Oswald hand out Fair Play for Cuba literature on one occasion. Ross theorized that Oswald had used the 544 Camp Street address on his literature to embarrass Guy."544 Camp Street and Related Events, House Select Committee on Assassinations—Appendix to Hearings, vol. 10, 13, p. 128. Guy Banister's secretary, Delphine Roberts, told author Anthony Summers that she saw Oswald at Banister's office, and that he filled out one of Banister's "agent" application forms. She said, "Oswald came back a number of times. He seemed to be on familiar terms with Banister and with the office."Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 229. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 The House Select Committee on Assassinations investigated Roberts' claims and said that "because of contradictions in Roberts' statements to the committee and lack of independent corroboration of many of her statements, the reliability of her statements could not be determined."544 Camp Street and Related Events, House Select Committee on Assassinations—Appendix to Hearings, vol. 10, 8, p. 129. Oswald's mid-1963 New Orleans activities were later investigated by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, as part of his prosecution of Clay Shaw in 1969. Garrison was particularly interested in an associate of Guy Banister—a man named David FerrieDavid Ferrie, House Select Committee on Assassinations—Appendix to Hearings, vol. 10, 12, p. 110. and his possible connection to Oswald, which Ferrie himself denied.FBI Interview of David Ferrie, November 25, 1963, Warren Commission Document 75, p. 286. Ferrie died before Garrison could complete his investigation.David Ferrie, House Select Committee on Assassinations—Appendix to Hearings, vol. 10, 12, p. 105. Charged with conspiracy in the JFK assassination, Shaw was found not guilty. In 1993, the PBS television program Frontline obtained a photograph, taken eight years before the assassination, showing Oswald and Ferrie at a Civil Air Patrol cookout with other C.A.P. cadets. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oswald/glimpse/ferrie.html PBS Frontline "Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald"], broadcast on PBS stations, November 1993 (various dates). Mexico Marina's friend, Ruth Paine, transported Marina and her child by car from New Orleans to the Paine home in Irving, Texas, near Dallas, on September 23, 1963.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 3, pp. 7–9, Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine Resumed. Oswald stayed in New Orleans at least two more days to collect a $33 unemployment check. It is uncertain when he left New Orleans: he is next known to have boarded a bus in Houston—bound for the Mexican border, rather than Dallas, and telling other passengers he planned to travel to Cuba via Mexico.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 11, pp. 214–215, Affidavit of John Bryan McFarland and Meryl McFarland. In Mexico City, someone claiming to be Oswald applied for a transit visa at the Cuban Embassy,Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 25, p. 418, CE 2564, Cuban visa application of Lee Harvey Oswald, September 27, 1963. claiming he wanted to visit Cuba on his way back to the Soviet Union. However, the Cuban officials dealing with Oswald testified that the man they dealt with was not Oswald and/or gave descriptions that did not match Oswald.HSCA Hearings Volume IIIHSCA Report "Oswald, the CIA, and Mexico City", p. 194 These officials insisted Oswald would need Soviet approval, but he was unable to get prompt co-operation from that embassy. After five days of shuttling between consulates, a heated argument with the Cuban consul, impassioned pleas to KGB agents, and at least some CIA scrutiny,(undated) Oswald's Foreign Activities (Coleman and Slawson to Rankin) (page 94) at The Assassination Archives and Research Center the man claiming to be Oswald was told by the Cuban consul that he was disinclined to approve the visa, saying "a person like Oswald in place of aiding the Cuban Revolution, was doing it harm."Warren Commission Report, p. 413 Nonetheless, on October 18, the Cuban embassy indeed approved the visa, but Oswald did not in fact embark for Cuba. (Eleven days before the assassination of Kennedy, Oswald wrote to the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C., saying, "Had I been able to reach the Soviet Embassy in Havana as planned, the embassy there would have had time to complete our business.") Oswald: Myth, Mystery, and Meaning, FRONTLINE, November 20, 2003HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. 8, p. 358, Letter from Lee Oswald to Embassy of the U.S.S.R., Washington, D.C., November 9, 1963. CIA Report on Oswald's Stay in Mexico, December 13, 1963. (page 19) at The Assassination Archives and Research Center. Return to Dallas , where Oswald was an employee]] Instead, on October 3, 1963, Oswald left by bus for Dallas. According to the Warren Commission, on October 14, a neighbor told Ruth Paine that there was a job opening at the Texas School Book Depository, an opening reported by her son Wesley Buell Frazier, who had a job there. Mrs. Paine informed Oswald, who was interviewed at the Depository and was hired there on October 16.The Warren Report, Chapter 1, pp. 14–15, Summary and Conclusions Oswald's supervisor Roy Truly, said that Oswald "did a good day's work" and was an above average employee.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 3, p. 216, Testimony of Roy Sansom Truly. During the week, Oswald stayed in a Dallas rooming house (under the name O.H. Lee), but he spent his weekends with Marina at the Paine home in Irving. Oswald did not drive, but commuted to and from Dallas on Mondays and Fridays with Wesley Frazier. On October 20, the Oswalds' second daughter was born. FBI agents twice visited the Paine home in early November, when Oswald was not present, looking for information on Marina, whom they suspected of being a Soviet agent.Warren Commission Report, p. 739. Oswald visited the Dallas FBI office about 7 to 10 days before the assassination, asking to see Special Agent James Hosty; told Hosty was unavailable, Oswald left a note that, according to the receptionist, read: "Let this be a warning. I will blow up the FBI and the Dallas Police Department if you don’t stop bothering my wife. Signed—Lee Harvey Oswald." The note allegedly contained some sort of threat, but accounts varied widely as to whether Oswald threatened to "blow up the FBI" or merely "report this to higher authorities".Destruction of the Oswald Note, Mary Ferrell Fountation Hosty testified that the note said, "If you have anything you want to learn about me, come talk to me directly. If you don't cease bothering my wife, I will take the appropriate action and report this to the proper authorities." Agent Hosty reported he destroyed the note after Oswald was named the suspect in the JFK assassination, as he was ordered to do by his superiors. Kennedy and Tippit shootings In the days before Kennedy's arrival, several newspapers described the route of the presidential motorcade as passing the Book Depository.Dallas Morning News, November 19, 1963. Dallas Times Herald, November 19, 1963, p. A-13. On November 21 (a Thursday) Oswald asked Frazier for an unusual mid-week lift back to Irving, saying he had to pick up some curtain rods. The next morning (Friday) he returned to Dallas with Frazier; he left behind $170 and his wedding ring,Warren Commission Hearings, vol. I, p. 72–73, Testimony of Marina Oswald. but took with him a paper bag.Magen Knuth, The Long Brown Bag. Oswald's co-worker, Charles Givens, testified that he last saw Oswald on the sixth floor of the Depository at 11:55 a.m.—35 minutes before the assassination.Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of Charles Givens. The Commission report stated that Oswald was not seen again "until after the shooting."158 However, in an FBI report taken the day after the assassination, Givens said that the encounter took place at 11:30 a.m. and that he later saw Oswald reading a newspaper in the first floor domino room at 11:50 a.m. William Shelley, a foreman at the Depository, also testified that he saw Oswald on the first floor talking on the telephone between 11:45 and 11:50 a.m.161 Janitor Eddie Piper also testified that he spoke to Oswald on the first floor at 12:00 p.m. Another co-worker, Bonnie Ray Williams, was on the sixth floor of the Depository eating his lunch and was there until at least 12:10 p.m.163 He said that during that time he did not see Oswald, or anyone else, on the sixth floor and felt he was the only one up there.164 However, he also said that some boxes in the southeast corner may have prevented him from seeing deep into the "sniper's nest."165 Carolyn Arnold, the secretary to the Vice President of the TSBD, informed the FBI that as she left the building to watch the motorcade, she caught a glimpse of a man whom she believed to be Oswald standing in the first floor hallway of the building just prior to the assassination. According to several government investigations, including the Warren Commission, as Kennedy's motorcade passed through Dallas's Dealey Plaza about 12:30 p.m. on November 22, Oswald fired three rifle shots from the sixth-floor, southeast corner window of the Book Depository,The Shots from the Texas School Book Depository, Warren Commission Report, chapter 3, p. 117. killing the President and seriously wounding Texas Governor John Connally. Bystander James Tague received a minor facial injury. According to the investigations, Oswald hid and covered the rifle with boxes and descended using the rear stairwell. About ninety seconds after the shooting, in the second-floor lunchroom, he encountered police officer Marrion Baker accompanied by Oswald's supervisor Roy Truly; Baker let Oswald pass after Truly identified him as an employee. According to Baker, Oswald did not appear to be nervous or out of breath.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 3, p. 263, Testimony of Marrion L. Baker. Mrs. Robert Reid, clerical supervisor at the Depository, returning to her office within two minutes of the assassination, said she saw Oswald who "was very calm" on the second floor with a Coke in his hands.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 3, pp. 273–275, Testimony of Mrs. Robert A. Reid Oswald descended using the front staircase, and left the Depository through the front entrance just before police sealed it off. Oswald's supervisor, Roy Truly, later pointed out to officers that Oswald was the only employee that he was certain was missing.Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of Roy Sansom Truly.Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of J.W. Fritz photographed in the same position where he was on November 22, 1963 across from the Texas School Book Depository. Circle "A" indicates where he saw a man fire from a rifle at the presidential motorcade]] At about 12:40 p.m., Oswald boarded a city bus but (probably due to heavy traffic) he requested a transfer from the driver and got off two blocks later.Bus transfer (.gif) at Kennedy Assassination Home Page He took a taxicab to his rooming house, at 1026 North Beckley Avenue, arriving at about 1:00 p.m. He entered through the front door and, according to his housekeeper Earlene Roberts, immediately went to his room, "walking pretty fast".Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 6, pp. 438–439, Testimony of Earlene Roberts. Oswald left "a very few minutes" later, zipping up a jacket he was not wearing when he had entered earlier, and that she last saw Oswald standing at the northbound Beckley Avenue bus stop in front of the house.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 7, p. 439, Affidavit of Earlene Roberts. Oswald was next witnessed near the corner of East 10th Street and North Patton Avenue, about nine-tenths of a mile (1.4 km) southeast of his rooming house—a distance that the Warren Commission said, "Oswald could have easily walked".The Warren Report, Appendix 12, p. 648, Oswald's Movements Between 12:33 and 1:15 PM According to the Warren Commission, it was here that Patrolman J. D. Tippit pulled alongside Oswald and "apparently exchanged words with him through the right front or vent window."Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4, p. 165, The Assassin, The Killing of Patrolman J.D. Tippit. "Shortly after 1:15 p.m.",The first report of Tippit's shooting was transmitted over Police Channel 1 some time between 1:16 and 1:19 p.m., as indicated by verbal time stamps made periodically by the dispatcher. Specifically, the first report began 1 minute 41 seconds after the 1:16 time stamp. Before that, witness Domingo Benavides could be heard unsuccessfully trying to use Tippit's police radio microphone, beginning at 1:16. Dale K. Myers, With Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J.D. Tippit, 1998, p. 384. ISBN 0-9662709-7-5. Tippit exited his car and was immediately struck and killed by four shots.The third eyewitness was Jack Ray Tatum. Oswald–Tippit Associates, HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. 12, p. 40–41. Numerous witnesses heard the shots and saw a man flee the scene holding a revolver.Warren Commission Report, Chaper 4: The Assassin, Description of Shooting.By the evening of November 22, five of them (Helen Markham, Barbara Jeanette Davis, Virginia Davis, Ted Callaway, Sam Guinyard) had identified Lee Harvey Oswald in police lineups as the man they saw. A sixth (William Scoggins) did so the next day. Three others (Harold Russell, Pat Patterson, Warren Reynolds) subsequently identified Oswald from a photograph. Two witnesses (Domingo Benavides, William Arthur Smith) testified that Oswald resembled the man they had seen. One witness (L.J. Lewis) felt he was too distant from the gunman to make a positive identification. Warren Commission Hearings, CE 1968, Location of Eyewitnesses to the Movements of Lee Harvey Oswald in the Vicinity of the Tippit Killing. Four cartridge cases found at the scene were identified by expert witnesses before the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee as having been fired from the revolver later found in Oswald's possession, to the exclusion of all other weapons. The bullets taken from Tippit's body could not be positively identified however as coming from Oswald's revolver.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 3, pp. 466–473, Testimony of Cortlandt Cunningham. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 3, p. 511, Testimony of Joseph D. Nicol.Tippit Murder: Findings and Conclusions, 7 HSCA 376. Capture after his arrest inside ]] Shoe store manager Johnny Brewer testified that minutes later he saw Oswald "ducking into" the entrance alcove of his store. Suspicious of this activity, Brewer watched Oswald continue up the street and slip into the nearby Texas Theatre without paying.Testimony of Johnny Calvin Brewer, 7 H 3–5. He alerted the theater's ticket clerk, who telephoned policeTestimony of Julia Postal, 7 H 11. at about 1:40 pm. As police arrived, the house lights were brought up and Brewer pointed out Oswald sitting near the rear of the theater. Oswald appeared to surrender (saying, "Well, it is all over now", or "This is it") then pulled a pistol tucked into the front of his trousers, pointed it at an officer, and pulled the trigger. However, the officer (Nick McDonald) stated that the hammer came down on the webbing between his thumb and first finger of his own left hand as he grabbed for the pistol, and it did not fire. Oswald also struck the officer with his left hand. However, the officer struck back and Oswald was disarmed after a struggle.Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of M. N. McDonald.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv5vemBcjok. Brewer and McDonald testify on film to a reporter at the sites of the shoestore and inside the Texas Theater. As he was led from the theater, Oswald shouted he was a victim of police brutality."Oswald and Officer McDonald:The Arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald". Retrieved 2011-06-21. At about 2 p.m., Oswald arrived at the Police Department building, where he was questioned by Detective Jim Leavelle about the shooting of Officer Tippit. When Captain J. W. Fritz heard Oswald's name, he recognized it as that of the Book Depository employee who was reported missing and was already a suspect in the assassination.Copy of an undated statement made by Richard M. Sims and E. L. Boyd concerning the events surrounding the assassination, 21 H 512–514.Testimony of J.W. Fritz, 4 H 206. Oswald was booked for both murders, and by the end of the night he had been arraigned as well.Warren Commission Report, Chapter 5: Detention and Death of Oswald, Chronology. Tippit murder affidavit: text, cover. Kennedy murder affidavit: text, cover. Soon after his capture Oswald encountered reporters in a hallway, declaring "I didn't shoot anybody" and "They're taking me in because of the fact that I lived in the Soviet Union. I'm just a patsy!" Later, at an arranged press meeting, a reporter asked, "Did you kill the President?" and Oswald, who by that time had been advised of the charge of murdering Tippit, but not yet arraigned in Kennedy's death, answered "No, I have not been charged with that. In fact, nobody has said that to me yet. The first thing I heard about it was when the newspaper reporters in the hall asked me that question." As he was led from the room, "What did you do in Russia?" was called out, and "How did you hurt your eye?"; Oswald answered, "A policeman hit me."Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 20, p. 366, Kantor Exhibit No. 3—Handwritten notes made by Seth Kantor concerning events surrounding the assassination.Lee Oswald claiming innocence (film), YouTube.com.Lee Oswald's Midnight Press Conference, YouTube.com. Police interrogation Oswald was interrogated several times during his two days at Dallas Police Headquarters. He denied killing Kennedy and Tippit, denied owning a rifle, said two photographs of him holding a rifle and a pistol were fakes, denied telling his co-worker he wanted a ride to Irving to get curtain rods for his apartment, and denied carrying a long heavy package to work the morning of the assassination. The Warren Commission also noted that Oswald denied knowing an A. J. Hidell, and when shown a forged Selective Service card bearing that name in his possession when arrested, refused to answer any questions concerning it, saying "...you have the card yourself and you know as much about it as I do." Warren Commission Report, pp. 180–182. The Warren Commission noted that this "spurious" card bore the name of Alek James Hidell. vol. XVII of the Warren report with facsimile of card (CE 795) with Commission notation: "A spurious Selective Service System notice of classification card in the name "Alek James Hidell." See for the card (illustrated at right) During his first interrogation on Friday, November 22, Oswald was asked to account for himself at the time the President was shot. According to FBI Special Agent James Hosty and Dallas Police Captain Will Fritz, Oswald said he ate lunch in the Depository's first-floor lounge (known as the "domino room"). He said that he then went to the second-floor lunchroom to buy a Coca-Cola from the soda machine there and was drinking it when he was encountered by Dallas motorcycle policeman (Marrion L. Baker).Commission Hearings, vol. 4, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0238a.htm Testimony of James P. Hosty, Jr., pp. 467–468Testimony of Capt. J.W. Fritz, pp. 213–214 Commission Exhibit 2003Dallas Police Department file on investigation of the assassination of the President, "Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald", vol. 4, p. 265.FBI Report of Capt. J.W. Fritz, Warren Report, appendix 11, p. 600. Oswald said that while he was in the domino room, he saw two "Negro employees" walking by, one he recognized as "Junior" and a shorter man whose name he could not recall.214 Junior Jarman and Harold Norman confirmed to the Warren Commission that they had "walked through" the domino room around noon during their lunch break. When asked if anyone else was in the domino room, Norman testified that somebody else was there, but he could not remember who it was. During his last interrogation on November 24, according to postal inspector Harry Holmes, Oswald was again asked where he was at the time of the shooting. Holmes (who attended the interrogation at the invitation of Captain Will Fritz) said that Oswald replied that he was working on an upper floor when the shooting occurred, then went downstairs where he encountered a policeman.Testimony of Harry D. Holmes, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 7, pp. 297-302. Oswald asked for legal representation several times while being interrogated, as well as in encounters with reporters. But when representatives of the Dallas Bar Association met with him in his cell on Saturday, he declined their services, saying he wanted to be represented by John Abt, chief counsel to the Communist Party USA, or by lawyers associated with the American Civil Liberties Union.Testimony of H. Louis Nichols, 7 H 328–329.Testimony of Harry D. Holmes, 7 H 299–300. Both Oswald and Ruth Paine tried to reach Abt by telephone several times Saturday and Sunday,Jesse E. Curry, Retired Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry Reveals His Personal JFK Assassination File, Self-published, 1969, p. 74, affidavit of Dallas police officer Thurber T. Lord on August 20, 1964.Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine, 3 H 88–89. but Abt was away for the weekend.Testimony of John J. Abt, 10 H 116. Oswald also declined his brother Robert's offer on Saturday to obtain a local attorney.Robert L. Oswald, Lee: A Portrait of Lee Harvey Oswald by His Brother, Coward–McCann, 1967, p. 145. During an interrogation with Captain Fritz, when asked are you a communist?, he replied: "No, I am not a Communist. I am a Marxist".Vincent Bugliosi (2008) [http://books.google.com/books?id=0UBNUSOMNhYC&pg=PA416 Four Days in November: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy] pp.416-7, quote: "No, I am not a Communist," Oswald says. "I am a Marxist, but not a Marxist-Leninist. ... "Well, a Communist is a Leninist-Marxist," Oswald explains, "while I am a true Karl Marxist. I've read just about everything by or about Karl Marx."Smith, Jeffrey K. (2008) Rendezvous in Dallas: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy pp.239-40, quote: No, I am not a Communist. I am a Marxist, but not a Marxist-Leninist. ... Well, a Communist is a Leninist-Marxist, while I am a true Karl Marxist. I've read just about everything by or about Karl Marx.Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques (1965) [http://books.google.com/books?id=prnuAAAAMAAJ Revue des travaux de l'Académie des sciences morales et politiques et comptes rendus de ses séances] p.274Kelley Exhibit A, 20 H 443; CE 2064, 24 H 490; 7 H 298, WCT Harry D. Holmes Death On Sunday, November 24, Oswald was being led through the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters preparatory to his transfer to the county jail when, at 11:21 a.m., Dallas nightclub operator Jack Ruby stepped from the crowd and shot Oswald in the abdomen. Oswald died at 1:07 p.m. at Parkland Memorial Hospital—the same hospital where where doctors tried to save President Kennedy's life two days earlier. A network television camera, there to cover the transfer, was broadcasting live at the time, and millions thereby witnessed the shooting as it happened. The event was also captured in a well-known photograph (see right). Ruby later said he had been distraught over Kennedy's death and that his motive for killing Oswald was "...saving Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial."Testimony of Jack Ruby, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 5, pp. 198–200. Others have hypothesized that Ruby was part of a conspiracy.G. Robert Blakey, chief council for the House Select Committee on Assassinations from 1977 to 1979, said, "The most plausible explanation for the murder of Oswald by Jack Ruby was that Ruby had stalked him on behalf of organized crime, trying to reach him on at least three occasions in the forty-eight hours before he silenced him forever." After autopsy, Oswald was buried in Fort Worth's Rose Hill Memorial Burial Park.Directions to Lee Harvey Oswald's Grave at Kennedy Assassination Home Page A marker inscribed simply Oswald replaces the stolen original tombstone, which gave Oswald's full name, and birth and death dates. In 2010 Oswald's original coffin was auctioned off for over $87,000. FBI agent James Hosty destroys Oswald's note According to FBI Agent James Hosty, two days after the assassination, Dallas FBI Special Agent-in-Charge J. Gordon Shanklin ordered Hosty to destroy a note that Oswald had left with a receptionist at the Dallas FBI office about seven to ten days before the assassination. The note allegedly contained some sort of threat. In testimony before the Warren Commission, Shanklin denied ordering Hosty to destroy Oswald's note, and denied having any knowledge of the note. The FBI acknowledged that Hosty's and Shanklin's accounts contradicted each other, but said that it would not investigate the matter further. HSCA Final Assassinations Report, House Select Committee on Assassinations, pp. 195–196. Official investigations Warren Commission The Warren Commission, created by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination, concluded that Oswald acted alone in assassinating Kennedy (this view is known as the lone gunman theory). The Commission could not ascribe any one motive or group of motives to Oswald's actions: The proceedings of the commission were closed, though not secret, and about 3% of its files have yet to be released to the public, which has continued to provoke speculation among researchers."Two misconceptions about the Warren Commission hearing need to be clarified...hearings were closed to the public unless the witness appearing before the Commission requested an open hearing. No witness except one...requested an open hearing...Second, although the hearings (except one) were conducted in private, they were not secret. In a secret hearing, the witness is instructed not to disclose his testimony to any third party, and the hearing testimony is not published for public consumption. The witnesses who appeared before the Commission were free to repeat what they said to anyone they pleased, and all of their testimony was subsequently published in the first fifteen volumes put out by the Warren Commission." (Bugliosi, p. 332) Ramsey Clark Panel In 1968, the Ramsey Clark Panel examined various photographs, X-ray films, documents, and other evidence, concluding that Kennedy was struck by two bullets fired from above and behind him, one of which traversed the base of the neck on the right side without striking bone, and the other of which entered the skull from behind and destroyed its right side.1968 Panel Review of Photographs, X-Ray Films, Documents and Other Evidence Pertaining to the Fatal Wounding of President John E Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas (.txt) at Kennedy Assassination Home Page House Select Committee In 1979, after a review of the evidence and of prior investigations, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations was preparing to issue a finding that Oswald had acted alone in killing Kennedy. However, late in the Committee's proceedings a Dictabelt was introduced, purportedly recording sounds heard in Dealey Plaza before, during and after the shots were fired. After submitting the Dictabelt to acoustic analysis, the Committee revised its findings to assert a "high probability that two gunmen fired" at Kennedy and that Kennedy "was probably assassinated as the result of a conspiracy." Although the Committee was "unable to identify the other gunman or the extent of the conspiracy," it made a number of further findings regarding the likelihood or unlikelihood that particular groups, named in the findings, were involved.Findings of the Select Committee on Assassinations HSCA Final Report, pp. 3. The Dictabelt evidence has been questioned, some believing it is not a recording of the assassination at all.Holland, Max. The JFK Lawyers' Conspiracy Published in The Nation on unknown date, reposted by George Mason University's History News Network, February 6, 2006 The staff director and chief counsel for the Committee, G. Robert Blakey, told ABC News in 2003 that at least 20 persons heard a shot from the grassy knoll, and that a conspiracy was established by both the witness testimony and acoustic evidence.[http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=131462&page=1#.UBGZGKODl8E Organized Crime Expert Sees Mob Connections], abcnews.com, 11/20/2003. Officer H.B. McLain, from whose motorcycle radio the HSCA acoustic experts said the Dictabelt evidence came,Testimony of Mark Weiss and Ernest Aschkenasy, 5 HSCA 617.G. Robert Blakey and Richard N. Billings, The Plot to Kill the President, Times Books, 1981, p. 103. ISBN 978-0-8129-0929-6. has repeatedly stated that he was not yet in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination.Greg Jaynes, The Scene of the Crime, Afterward. McLain asked the Committee, "‘If it was my radio on my motorcycle, why did it not record the revving up at high speed plus my siren when we immediately took off for Parkland Hospital?’”"Separate Views of Hons. Samuel L. Devine and Robert W. Edgar", HSCA Report, pp. 492–493. In 1982, a group of twelve scientists appointed by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), led by Norman Ramsey, concluded that the acoustic evidence submitted to the HSCA was "seriously flawed."Report of the Committee on Ballistic Acoustics Donald B. Thomas said in a 2001 article in Science & Justice, the journal of Britain's Forensic Science Society, that the NAS investigation was itself flawed. He concluded with a 96.3 percent certainty that there were at least two gunmen firing at President Kennedy and that at least one shot came from the grassy knoll.Donald B. Thomas, "Echo Correlation Analysis and the Acoustic Evidence in the Kennedy Assassination Revisited", Science & Justice, vol. 41(1), 2001, pp. 21-32, Retrieved 2010-04-10 Commenting on Thomas's study, G. Robert Blakey said: "This is an honest, careful scientific examination of everything we did, with all the appropriate statistical checks."George Lardner Jr., "Study Backs Theory of 'Grassy Knoll' ", Washington Post, March 26, 2001 In 2005, Ralph Linsker and several members of the original NAS team reanalyzed the timings of the recordings and reaffirmed in an article in Science & Justice the earlier conclusion of the NAS report that the alleged shot sounds were recorded approximately one minute after the assassination.Linsker R., Garwin R.L., Chernoff H., Horowitz P., Ramsey N.F., "Synchronization of the acoustic evidence in the assassination of President Kennedy". Science & Justice, vol. 45(4), 2005, pp. 207–226. Other investigations and dissenting theories in April, 1963, dated and signed on the back. Oswald holds a Carcano rifle, with markings matching those on the rifle found in the Book Depository after the assassination.]] Critics have not accepted the conclusions of the Warren Commission and have proposed a number of other theories, such as that Oswald conspired with others, or was not involved at all and was framed. In October 1981, with Marina's support, Oswald's grave was opened to test a theory propounded by writer Michael Eddowes: that during Oswald's stay in the Soviet Union he was replaced with a Soviet double; that it was this double, not Oswald, who killed Kennedy and who is buried in Oswald's grave; and that the exhumed remains would therefore not exhibit a surgical scar Oswald was known to carry. However, dental records positively identified the exhumed corpse as Oswald's, and the scar was present.W. Tracy Parnell, The Exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald. Contrary to reports, the skull of Oswald had been autopsied and this was also confirmed at the exhumation. W. Tracy Parnell, My Interview With Dr. Vincent J.M. Di Maio. Fictional trials Several films''The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald'' (1964); The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1977, unrelated to the first film); On Trial: Lee Harvey Oswald (1986) have fictionalized a trial of Oswald. In 1986, a 21-hour unscripted mock trial was "held" on television, argued by actual lawyers before an actual judge,Vincent Bugliosi, Reclaiming History with unscripted testimony from surviving witnesses to the events surrounding the assassination; the mock jury returned a verdict of guilty. In 1992 the American Bar Association conducted two mock Oswald trials. The first trial ended in a hung jury. In the second trial the jury acquitted Oswald. Backyard photos The "backyard photos", taken by Marina Oswald probably around March 31, 1963 using a camera belonging to Oswald, show Oswald holding two Marxist newspapers—''The Militant'' and The Worker—and a rifle, and wearing a pistol in a holster.Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin, Photograph of Oswald With Rifle Shown the pictures after his arrest, Oswald insisted they were forgeries,Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin, Denial of Rifle Ownership. but Marina testified in 1964 that she had taken the photographs at Oswald's request—Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 1, p. 15, Testimony of Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald. testimony she reaffirmed repeatedly over the decades. *Testimony of Marina Oswald Porter, Trial of Clay Shaw, Criminal District Court, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, February 21, 1969. *United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, Deposition of Marina Oswald Porter (1977): :Q. I want to mark these two photographs. On the back of the first one, which I would ask be marked JFK committee exhibit No. 1, it says in the bottom right-hand corner copy from the National Archives, records group No. 272, under that it says CE-133B. I will ask that be marked JFK exhibit No. 1. (The above referred to photograph was marked JFK committee exhibit No. 1 for identification.) :Q. New, this second picture that I will ask to be marked says copy from the National Archives, record group No. 272, CE-133. I would ask that this be marked JFK committee exhibit No. 2. (The above referred to photograph was marked JFK committee exhibit No. 2 for identification.) :By Mr. KLEIN: :Q. I will show you those two photographs which are marked JFK exhibit No. 1 and exhibit No. 2, do you recognize those two photographs? :A. I sure do. I have seen them many times. :Q. What are they? :A. That is the pictures that I took. *United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, Hearings, vol. 2 p. 239, Testimony of Marina Oswald Porter (1978): :Mr. McDONALD. Mrs. Porter, I have got two exhibits to show you, if the clerk would procure them from the representatives of the National Archives. We have two photographs to show you. They are Warren Commission Exhibits C-133-A and B, which have been given JFK Nos. F-378 and F-379. If the clerk would please hand them to you, and also if we could now have for display purposes JFK Exhibit F-179, which is a blowup of the two photographs placed in front of you. Mrs. Porter, do you recognize the photographs placed in front of you? :Mrs. PORTER. Yes, I do. :Mr. McDONALD. And how do you recognize them? :Mrs. PORTER. That is the photograph that I made of Lee on his persistent request of taking a picture of him dressed like that with rifle. *Marina Oswald Porter, interview with author Vincent Bugliosi and lawyer Jack Duffy, Dallas, Texas, November 30, 2000, reported in Bugliosi, Reclaiming History, p. 794. These photos were labelled CE 133-A and CE 133-B. CE 133-A shows the rifle in Oswald's left hand and newsletters in front of his chest in the other, while the rifle is held with the right hand in CE 133-B. Oswald's mother testified that on the day after the assassination she and Marina destroyed another photograph with Oswald holding the rifle with both hands over his head, with "To my daughter June" written on it.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 1, p. 146, Testimony of Mrs. Marguerite Oswald. The HSCA obtained another first generation print (from CE 133-A) on April 1, 1977 from the widow of George de Mohrenschildt. The words "Hunter of fascists—ha ha ha!" written in block Russian were on the back. Also in English were added in script: "To my friend George, Lee Oswald, 5/IV/63 5, 1963"HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. 6, p. 151, Figure IV-21. Handwriting experts for the HSCA concluded the English inscription and signature were by Oswald. After two original photos, one negative and one first-generation copy had been found, the Senate Intelligence Committee located (in 1976) a third backyard photo (CE 133-C) showing Oswald with newspapers held away from his body in his right hand). These photos, widely recognized as some of the most significant evidence against Oswald, have been subjected to rigorous analysis.HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. 6, "The Oswald Backyard Photographs". Photographic experts consulted by the HSCA concluded they were genuine, answering twenty-one points raised by critics. Marina Oswald has always maintained she took the photos herself, and the 1963 de Mohrenschildt print bearing Oswald's signature clearly indicate they existed before the assassination. Nonetheless, some continue to contest their authenticity.United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, Hearings, Testimony of Jack D. White. After digitally analyzing the photograph of Oswald holding the rifle and paper, computer scientist Hany Farid concluded that the photo "almost certainly was not altered." Notes References Further reading *Bugliosi, Vincent. Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy Norton, 2007, 1632 p. ISBN 0-393-04525-0. *Ford, Gerald. Portrait of the Assassin, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965, ISBN 0-684-82663-1. *Joesten, Joachim. Oswald: Assassin or Fall Guy Marsani/Munsell, 1964, paperback. *Krusch, Barry. Impossible: The Case Against Lee Harvey Oswald, ICI Press, 2012, ASIN: B007TBWQ3W *Lambert, Patricia. False Witness: The Real Story of Jim Garrison's Investigation and Oliver Stone's Film JFK, New York: M. Evans & Company, 1998, ISBN 0-87131-920-9. *Mailer, Norman. Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery New York: Ballantine Books, (1995) ISBN 0-345-40437-8. *McMillan, Priscilla Johnson. Marina and Lee New York: Harper & Row, 1977. *Nechiporenko, Oleg M. Passport to Assassination: The Never-Before Told Story of Lee Harvey Oswald by the KGB Colonel Who Knew Him New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1993, ISBN 1-55972-210-X. *Posner, Gerald. Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK Random House, 1993, hardcover, ISBN 0-679-41825-3. *Summers, Anthony. Not in Your Lifetime New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998, ISBN 1-56924-739-0. External links *[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oswald/ Frontline: Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?] *[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/oswald/ American Experience: Oswald's Ghost] *Lee Harvey Oswald's journey from Minsk to the US, travelling through Holland by Perry Vermeulen *Kennedy Assassination Home Page by John McAdams *Lee Harvey Oswald: Lone Assassin or Patsy *Lee Harvey Oswald Chronology *Crime Library: Lee Harvey Oswald *Lee Harvey Oswald In Russia *Various photos of Oswald taken post mortem * * |PLACE OF BIRTH = Slidell, Louisiana |DATE OF DEATH = |PLACE OF DEATH = Dallas, Texas }} ar:لي هارفي أوزوالد az:Li Harvi Osvald bn:লি হার্ভে অসওয়াল্ড be:Лі Харві Освальд bg:Лий Харви Осуалд bs:Lee Harvey Oswald ca:Lee Harvey Oswald cs:Lee Harvey Oswald da:Lee Harvey Oswald de:Lee Harvey Oswald et:Lee Harvey Oswald el:Λη Χάρβεϊ Όσβαλντ es:Lee Harvey Oswald eo:Lee Harvey Oswald fa:لی هاروی اسوالد fr:Lee Harvey Oswald ga:Lee Harvey Oswald ko:리 하비 오스월드 hr:Lee Harvey Oswald id:Lee Harvey Oswald it:Lee Harvey Oswald he:לי הארווי אוסוואלד la:Lee Harvey Oswald lv:Lī Hārvijs Osvalds lt:Lee Harvey Oswald hu:Lee Harvey Oswald mk:Ли Харви Освалд ms:Lee Harvey Oswald mn:Ли Харви Освальд nl:Lee Harvey Oswald ja:リー・ハーヴェイ・オズワルド no:Lee Harvey Oswald nn:Lee Harvey Oswald pl:Lee Harvey Oswald pt:Lee Harvey Oswald ro:Lee Harvey Oswald ru:Освальд, Ли Харви sq:Lee Harvey Oswald simple:Lee Harvey Oswald sr:Ли Харви Освалд sh:Lee Harvey Oswald fi:Lee Harvey Oswald sv:Lee Harvey Oswald th:ลี ฮาร์วีย์ ออสวอลด์ tr:Lee Harvey Oswald uk:Лі Гарві Освальд ur:لی ہاروے اوسوالڈ zh:李·哈維·奧斯瓦爾德 Category:1939 births Category:1963 deaths Category:1963 murders in the United States Category:20th-century criminals Category:American assassins Category:American communists Category:American defectors to the Soviet Union Category:American expatriates in the Soviet Union Category:American Marxists Category:American murder victims Category:Assassins of United States presidents Category:Burials in Texas Category:Criminal snipers Category:Deaths by firearm in Texas Category:Deaths in police custody in the United States Category:Filmed assassinations Category:Murdered criminals Category:People associated with the John F. 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